Black is the Cry
by wannabeWriter888
Summary: Now a daughter of the demon, Laurel Lance continues to defend her city as the Black Canary. When Damien Darhk arrives in town, see how this affects her story, and that of Oliver Queen's. AU of season 4. Sequel to Daughter of the Demon
1. Part One

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not the Green Arrow comics or_ Arrow _or any show in the Arrowverse. I'm simply presenting an alternative way the show could've gone back in S4._

 **A/N:** This is an update, not a complete rewrite. The same story overall but with additional scenes that will hopefully make this story feel less rushed and flesh out some of the changes I wanted to see in the team dynamics. This is a follow-up to my short story: _Daughter of the Demon_. This story covers the entirety of S4 with how that one little change in S3 could affect the show over time. Most of the season happened as it did on the show – which means _**t** **here will be Olicity and even the engagement – but Lauriver is endgame.**_ Two things to keep in mind: 1) I have not seen most of that season because of what they did to Laurel; my knowledge is based off recaps, so I couldn't rewrite every scene that needed to be fixed to match with my changes, and unfortunately I may be missing important things that happened because they were glossed over in the recaps. 2) the flashforwards to the grave still happen, but Barry calls Oliver (since he's powerless at that time on the Flash).

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Part One

Ivy Town was uniformly unoriginal, safe as a button, and easily breached. The last place one might expect to find Oliver Queen, at least if one knew the real Oliver. It was also the last place on Earth that Dinah Laurel Lance wanted to be.

Laurel took a deep breath as the house came into view. Thea parked the car and Laurel told the butterflies in her stomach to stop fluttering. They weren't here to fight. They'd come to ask for help – help from the man she'd sent off into the sunset with another woman. She'd thought that would be the hardest thing she had to do, but this was harder. To face him again and keep her heart locked away; the only way she could protect herself now.

"Are you ready?" Thea asked, sympathetic to Laurel's reluctance but impatient to see her brother.

"Of course," Laurel projected confidence she didn't feel. She could do this. She had to. She wasn't some damsel in distress or a fragile doll to be sheltered. She wasn't even the ex-lover who couldn't move on. She was a successful ADA, the Black Canary, and a daughter of Ra's al Ghul.

But this would be the first time she'd seen Oliver since that night . . .

 _The day after their wedding in Nanda Parbat, Laurel began her training as a daughter of the Demon. The League of Assassins was relentless and thorough. They wanted to break her until Laurel Lance was no more, then rebuild her as Dinah al Ghul. They would've succeeded too, if not for Oliver. Each night, when she returned to their rooms, too exhausted to even eat, he was there. He'd tend to her injuries, make sure she was fed, and then held her through the night, murmuring encouragement and reminding her who she was._

 _Laurel didn't even realize Oliver had to accelerate his plan and call the team in early until after the League had captured her friends. Oliver told her that night and then had to pin her to the bed to stop her from checking on the team. He inoculated her against the virus, then gave her the updated plan. While he and Nyssa accompanied Ra's to Starling City, Laurel freed their teammates and escaped with them back to their plane. When Felicity asked how Laurel was free to aid them, Laurel fibbed about joining the League. She didn't want to explain her confusing rebirth, much less the marriage which still felt surreal. Malcolm had smirked at her, knowing the truth, but he hadn't betrayed her secrets and the others hadn't questioned her story. They had bigger problems on their minds._

 _They stopped Ra's in the end. With Ray Palmer's help, they vaccinated the city before the Alpha-Omega virus could be spread. Oliver had to fight Ra's to the death, but the city was saved, and he kept his promise to Malcolm, giving him the ring of the Demon's Head. It felt wrong to Laurel, to reward the man who killed her sister and set everything into motion; the man who had ruined countless lives. Unfortunately, Oliver had more honor than Merlyn, and Laurel loved him for that – one day though, she vowed Malcolm would pay for the deaths he'd caused._

" _Nyssa, there you are," Laurel had tracked her blood-sister down to Sara's clocktower. She knew the last few days had to have been tougher on her than they'd been on Laurel; "I'm sorry, if I'd known this was how things would end, I would've talked to Ollie about his plan . . ."_

" _It is fine, Dinah. I suspect our father wouldn't be surprised at the deal – though another wears the ring, your husband is the rightful heir to Ra's al Ghul. One day, he will have to accept that."_

" _I wish you wouldn't call him that," Laurel grimaced when Nyssa used the matrimonial term._

" _Husband? You love him, do you not, sister?"_

" _With all my being, but it doesn't mean a future together is in the cards for us," Laurel sighed and leaned against a window sill, looking out onto the city. She'd seen the way he looked at Felicity, the way he'd once looked at her but no longer. That was a man in love._

" _Is it because of Felicity? Because I am a highly-trained assassin," Nyssa joined Laurel at the window with a conspiring smile._

" _Nyssa!"_

" _It is only a joke," Nyssa promised. "Mostly," she added under her breath and Laurel pretended not to hear._

" _Oliver may love me, but he's not in love with me the way I am with him. I told him we could never be together, because our best friend died loving me more than I loved him. I wanted to punish myself back then and pushed Oliver away, straight into Felicity's arms. He fell for her and deserves the chance to see where that will lead. He deserves to be happy, just happy, not weighed down with the baggage we share."_

" _You are different people than when you were last together, perhaps he loves you more than you realize," Nyssa offered, revealing a more optimistic romantic than Laurel had pegged her as._

" _I have to let him go, let him make that choice on his own."_

" _Why do you look prepared for him to never come back?" Nyssa questioned after watching Laurel steel herself for the conversation._

" _Because Ollie always runs from me when I ask him to get serious. He's never fought for me, for us. My love, it's never been enough for him."_

 _She'd been right of course._

 _Laurel had gone to Oliver, Nyssa shadowing her. She'd told her so-called husband she knew his feelings in Nanda Parbat were all an act to save her life, and he'd agreed. She'd told him to take the chance he had with Felicity, to find happiness with her and hold on tight. Oliver had thanked her for understanding and left to find his new love. He didn't see the tears that Laurel shed as her heart broke again, but Nyssa was there to hold her together. Even in her pain, Laurel was comforted with the knowledge that she wasn't alone – she had a sister again._

Oliver had left with Felicity, driving off into a literal sunset. That left John, Thea, and Laurel to defend the city – with Roy having faked his death and fled, a fact no one told Laurel until months later. Nyssa stayed in the newly christened Star City to train Thea and Laurel in the League's ways – Malcolm had agreed since they were both daughters of the Demon now. At first, John had overseen their little group, but it quickly became evident he had a tough time calling the shots when those he cared about had their lives on the line. Nyssa made the bigger decisions in the field for a while, even though she scorned the concept of being a vigilante. Eventually, Laurel, Thea, and John worked out their own little democracy and they became a stronger team for it. One of them lead when they had the best mind for the situation, but none of them was _the_ leader.

The Ghosts appeared out of the blue. They were fast, trained, and tough to take down. Even using League tactics, they barely kept up. Then Malcolm recalled Nyssa to Nanda Parbat. She'd pronounced Laurel and Thea worthy of their titles only a week before her summons, but she'd been planning to stay, to help her sisters-in-blood. Unfortunately, an order from Ra's couldn't be ignored, which led to the current car ride to Ivy Town.

"You know, it's not too late to turn back. Maybe ARGUS could help stop these Ghosts," John said when Laurel made no move for the door. Thea suspected parts of the truth about what went down in Nanda Parbat, but Diggle had remained oblivious to Laurel's healing heart, for which she was glad.

"Lyla told us ARGUS has been trying to catch these guys for years, I doubt their aid, if they give any, will do us good," Thea tutted and shot Laurel an exasperated look.

"We voted on this already, John. We need another body in the field, one with training like the League's. Ted's remaining firm on his decision, which leaves only one option. So, let's do this," Laurel grabbed the door handle and let out a calming breath.

Grumbling, John opted to stay in the car while Laurel and Thea walked up to the door. Thea knocked while Laurel settled her nerves one last time. She could handle being around him, being only his friend, and seeing him look at another the way he once looked at her. She'd healed from the pain of letting him go, she was stronger now than she'd ever been. And when the door opened, she proved to herself that this was true.

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When Laurel told him that she believed his confession in Nanda Parbat to be an act, Oliver took the easy way out. He took the wedding band she offered, and he walked away. He hadn't fought for her when he should have so many times in the past, and he'd lost her. He didn't deserve her; never had, never would. He also didn't deserve the face-saving rejection she gave him, but he took it.

He did love Felicity. She'd been there for him so much in the past few years. Not a consolation or a replacement for Laurel, but something new. A relationship without so many burned bridges or mistakes on his part. Oliver did as Laurel suggested and he worked to build a happy future with Felicity. He let his mission go and focused on her, holding on as tightly as he dared without suffocating her. He'd already messed up the future he wanted with the first love of his life, he wouldn't ruin his chance at a second.

Ivy Town was a wholly different life than one he was used to – a life he'd once envisioned sharing with Laurel, back when he was a different man. His days often felt like a vacation from reality; a break he'd needed to escape the memories of the past. Felicity tried to get him to talk about the island, about Nanda Parbat, but he couldn't. Ra's had been right about one thing - Oliver couldn't be the Arrow when he was with Felicity. He had to be Oliver Queen with her; and the island, his time with the League, those were part of the Arrow's mission. He feared her discovering the man he was in those places. Yet there were times in Ivy Town when Oliver wasn't sure who he was anymore, as if Oliver Queen was fading to be someone else entirely for Felicity Smoak.

Then Laurel and Thea showed up at their door, asking for help. Despite his hesitation, there really was no choice for Oliver. It was his sister and oldest friend – he would always answer when they called.

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They stopped the train Damien Darhk tried to blow up. There were a few bumps along the way. Oliver tried to resume leadership of the team; they gave him some leeway but respectfully reminded him that they'd been managing on their own for five months. They weren't going to just take his directives anymore, not if they had serious problems with the plan. Oliver floundered for a minute but agreed to hear their voices.

When Felicity confided in Laurel that she wanted to stay, but was concerned Oliver wanted to leave, Laurel gave her a nudge to help Oliver see the city was where he wanted to be. After Oliver revealed his new masked identity to Star City, that of Green Arrow, Laurel knew they'd made the right choice. Though she was more surprised at how easy it was to see him so obviously in love with Felicity. He was happy and that made it easier to be his friend without envy – they had been friends for so long, that part came naturally.

Then Thea flounced into their living room, complaining of Oliver's brotherly talk about her aggressive fighting. "Did you tell him you've been trying to control it?"

"No," Thea huffed and then caught Laurel's questioning look; "He left! And he'll leave again, because that's what he does when I need him the most. He's not here for me the way you are. Just like he's not there for you either."

"Oh, Thea, he didn't leave me, I let him go," Laurel said, because she wasn't going to tell Thea how to feel about her brother, but she could at least give her one less reason to be mad at him. She could see her little sister didn't believe her, so, after months of silence, Laurel finally caved and told Thea what had happened in Nanda Parbat and after.

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 **A/N2** : Final thought, I'm writing the story in limited third person. This means you'll get to see how I interpret the thought patterns of Laurel and Oliver and how they perceive others' actions. Their perception isn't always accurate but based on their own personal biases. Sometimes, they will be hypocrites, because face it, everyone is at some point. In my head, Oliver self-loathes a lot, even over things he couldn't control, and I try to reflect that. Laurel doesn't always see Oliver's actions in the best of light because of their history together and Thea has some issues, besides the bloodlust, that will get addressed later.

Reviews are appreciated! Just no bashing!


	2. Part Two

_Disclaimer: see part one._

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Part Two

Laurel's case was delayed due to the defense calling for a recess. She had no other pressing work to complete, so she took an early afternoon from the office to get in some extra hours of training. She thought she'd have the Bunker to herself, only to find Oliver there and pounding at a bag. His expression was less than tranquil. She wondered what had happened at breakfast with the Danforths to put him in such a mood.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to come back later?" she asked awkwardly when Oliver paused to greet her.

"No, stay. I actually don't want to be alone," he grabbed a sleeveless tee he occasionally wore when working out. Laurel watched his six-pack disappear in disappointment, realized what she was doing, and jerked her eyes back to his face.

To her luck, he hadn't notice her ogling and she refrained from blushing as she went to change. The gaze she felt on her backside was totally in her head. _He's taken and there are plenty of other attractive,_ _ **single**_ _men out there_ , she reminded her libido. Other men just weren't as attractive to her as Ollie. A fact she was reminded of when she returned to the mats to see him drinking from a water bottle and felt a strong pluck of desire. She bottled up her attraction for her ex and chose to focus on something else instead – anything else.

"Do you want to talk about that?" she offered, nodding towards the punching bag

"Not really," Oliver deflected abruptly, then smiled apologetically at her. "Would you like to spar?"

She nodded her agreement and quickly stretched. They squared off on the mat and Laurel had to admit she was excited at the opportunity. She hadn't matched against Oliver since she completed her training under Nyssa. She didn't expect to beat him, but she hoped to at least make him sweat a little for his victory – a feat she hadn't been able to accomplish before.

Laurel struck first. Oliver blocked her jab and came back with an upper cut. She evaded and then blocked his next punch. She struck back rather than let him think he had her on the defense. They circled each other. Then he swept his leg low. Laurel barely managed to jump out of the way in time and had to quickly counter his following hook. Punch. Weave. Jab. Block. Thrust. Dodge. They trained more blows. He landed more hits than she did, but she didn't give up and gave back as much as she could.

Eventually, he caught her arm and forced her into a kneeling position. She landed a surprise kick to his ankle and tackled him onto his back. Before she could pin him down, he rolled them over. He straddled her, pinning her arms above her head. His face was inches from her as they panted. Breathing in time with him, peering into his eyes, Laurel realized how physically close they were, and she recalled the last time they'd had as little space between them, in Nanda Parbat.

Oliver released her and hurriedly climbed to his feet. "I'm going to just, uh, get ready for patrol," he scrubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck and walked away.

Laurel sat up but didn't watch him go. She started her cooldown stretches, pretending nothing had happened. Maybe if she practiced being unaffected, her body would get the memo. In the meantime, she smiled at her success. She'd held her own against Oliver for nearly half an hour. That was a personal best – and one she wouldn't be beating anytime soon.

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After the Danforth situation was resolved, and Lonnie Machin lay in the ICU, Thea revealed a secret of her own. Ollie hadn't gone into the details about how Ra's had saved Thea, only that he had in exchange for Oliver's surrender. Laurel had had no idea the Pit which rebirthed her had saved Thea as well. It made sense though, and now Laurel regretted not asking Nyssa for more information about the Pit when she had the chance. The moment she grasped the potential power of the Lazarus Pit, a spark of hope filled Laurel. She saw a chance to help Thea and right a wrong done to her family and she took it.

Putting her idea into action took some time, as Laurel couldn't simply take off from the DA's office without notice. While she set her plan in motion, keeping mum about her true intentions to everyone, the team continued to patrol with extra vigilance over Thea in the field.

One night, as they were gearing up for patrol, Laurel reflected at how normal things felt again. Oliver and Felicity were running several minutes late, but the others made no comments when they finally arrived. In fact, they barely noticed the couple, as John was busy regale Laurel and Thea with a story about his latest client's antics – he'd gone back to private security after Oliver lost Queen Consolidated, but he kept to day-shifts only.

"Well, at least he isn't another Xavier," Thea teased and Dig and Laurel both chuckled at the reminder.

"Who's Xavier?" Felicity inquired, wanting in on the joke.

"He was a taxidermist that we busted a few months back for selling drugs inside his wares. He was a couple screws loose," Laurel explained. Felicity frowned, not seeing the humor.

"You had to have been there," Diggle shrugged apologetically. Oliver tilted his head in acknowledgement, his face unreadable as he walked to their locker room to change.

"Oh, that's okay. It's not like we don't have any crazy cases of our own," Felicity replied a touch too brightly. "Like that time the Dodger came to town and strapped a bomb-collar around my neck. Crazy times those were."

Diggle nodded, humoring her. Laurel and Thea were saved from answering when the police scanner went off, reporting gun shots in a nearby store. They were dressed and armed, so they headed out to handle the situation. If it also forced John and Oliver to work together, to hopefully overcome their differences, well, that wasn't a coincidence at all.

The men failed to make up that night and their discord jarred the normalcy Laurel had been feeling, but she didn't give up on her friends or her sister.

After reminding John that Oliver was still a good man who'd made mistakes, Laurel and Thea headed to Nanda Parbat in secret. Asking Malcolm to right the wrong he'd done to Sara was difficult, but having Nyssa be disgusted with the plan was harder for Laurel to swallow.

"How can you be against this? A chance to have someone we both love brought back?" Laurel questioned Nyssa in her quarters.

"What you're proposing to do to Sara isn't love, it's barbaric. You're letting your grief rule you, sister."

"Malcolm is the reason Sara's dead. Now he had the power to make it right, to absolve Thea of her guilt in the crime. What is so wrong to want that? – I would do it for you or Thea if I could."

"And I would not thank you for it any more than Sara will. She is at peace, sister, and you wish to rob that from her. How is that love, Dinah? Look at Thea, she was near death when she entered the Pit and she suffers for it. Even you have been changed by your immersion. If you were to do this to Sara, the one who comes back will not be the one we lost."

"Malcolm said he knew a cure for Thea's bloodlust," Laurel reiterated, and Nyssa scoffed. "That pretender lies, as he does in all things. I know the secrets of the Pit better than he. There is no cure here."

Laurel wanted to argue, to deny Nyssa's words, but she knew her sister was right. Malcolm lied even to those he loved when it suited him; Nyssa did not. Laurel collapsed on the edge of Nyssa's bed. She choked back a sob. The fragile hope she'd been nurturing, flickered, and died. Nyssa sat beside her and pulled her into a hug. "I miss her. . . so much," Laurel trembled.

"I missed her too, sister. My heart grieves as your does, but this is not the way to honor Sara's memory. Your deeds as Black Canary, that is Sara's legacy, and she would be so very proud of you."

Laurel retracted her request, but Malcolm went ahead and revived Sara against Laurel and Nyssa's objections. He did it for selfish reasons, to make amends with Thea, and Nyssa was right in the end. The Sara they got back wasn't the same. Nyssa made certain Malcolm couldn't make that mistake again. She destroyed the Pit. He wanted to kill her, but Laurel stood by her blood-sister, prepared to fight, and though Malcolm would've happily killed them both, when Thea joined them, he relented and let them all leave with Sara sedated.

"I'm sorry about the League, Nyssa, but you know you will always have a home with me," Laurel promised.

"As much as I would like to join you, I cannot. Malcolm may have let me go today, but he will send the League after me. If I stay with you, I will only bring bloodshed to your streets."

"Is there something we can do?" Thea asked.

"Not now, not here," Nyssa shook her head regretfully.

"Be safe, sister," Laurel wrapped Nyssa in a hug; "I know this isn't what you wanted for Sara, but I promise, I'll keep fighting until the Sara we love is brought back to us."

Thea wanted to tell the team the truth about Nanda Parbat immediately upon their return. Laurel convinced her to wait until after she had a chance to work on Sara alone, and tell her dad. Ollie's announcement of his mayoral campaign was so . . . Ollie. He was jumping headfirst into an idea, wanting to do more for the city, to be a beacon of hope for their home in the light of day. Laurel had her doubts – he really had no idea what he was getting into – but she would support him. Thea's reaction to the reveal required a quiet interrogation, she'd clearly been expecting to hear different news and Laurel wanted to know why. The result of which hurt less than expected – she really did want Oliver to be happy, even it wasn't with her.

They worked with her dad next, to stop the dirty cops that Liza Warner led. Telling him about Sara was hard, but Laurel stopped him from killing Sara. Then he pulled himself together and convinced Warner to turn herself in rather than die in shoot-out with him. Laurel and Oliver were busy during the showdown, fighting together against six former SWAT members who never stood a chance. Working side-by-side with Oliver, completely in-sync, felt wonderful.

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Laurel answered her door a few nights later to find Oliver on the other side. It was a couple hours before they had to patrol, so she hazarded a guess as to why he'd visited. "Thea's not here."

"Actually, I'm here to talk to you," he replied with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, okay," she moved back to let him in. Part of her went on the defense immediately, believing this was about Sara. But no, Ollie wouldn't be acting embarrassed if that were the case. He didn't know, which put her at a loss as to why he wanted to talk.

"Felicity and I had a fight and I could use some advice."

"Did you try talking to John?" she asked on impulse, because her first instinct was to not get involved. She regretted the instinct, remembering how supportive he'd been when she was dating Tommy.

"I don't need to. I know what he'll say and while the advice will be good, it won't help my problem. – The irony of what I'm asking isn't lost on me." Oliver shook his head at some internal thought and moved to leave. Laurel stopped him.

"What exactly is the problem?" she'd promised herself she'd be a better friend. That included supporting Oliver as he tried to build a healthy relationship with Felicity.

"It's a recurring problem actually. Whenever I ask her about Palmer Tech, she tells me about the various projects she and Curtis are working on. She gets excited and forgets that I only understand about one word in ten when she goes full-science mode. It frustrates me because I want to be able to talk her, but when I ask her to speak in terms I can follow, she gets upset with me," he grimaced at the end and Laurel suspected there might be a little more he wasn't mentioning. After all, some of Felicity's simplifications to the team tended to come off condescending.

"If you want to share this subject with her, I'd suggest reading up on the stuff she talks about or asking her to teach you."

The wounded look he shot her way implied he'd thought of one or both on his own and his attempts hadn't worked. He was looking for an idea outside the box.

"Or you could always try asking Donna for help," Laurel mentioned. She'd met Felicity's mom over the summer. While Felicity might not have always gotten along with her mother, Donna certainly understood her daughter better than anyone else.

"That might actually work. Thank you," he said and smiled gratefully at her.

As she showed him to the door, she believed they stood a chance of being great friends again.

Then Oliver found out about Sara and had the nerve to judge her. It irked her that he would stand there, condemning her for messing with forces she didn't understand when he was no better – five years on an island didn't give him the right to play superior to her mistakes. "For the record, I changed my mind. I realized it was selfish of me to want to bring her back, before Malcolm put her in the Pit." Laurel snapped at him before leaving to search for her sister again.

She may have changed her mind about the revival, but Sara was alive now, and Laurel was going to fight tooth and nail to get her sister back the rest of the way. Ollie was still acting superior when Sara put Thea in the hospital. Laurel had had enough, she loved him, but she was done taking his judgements lying down. She called him on his hypocrisy, told him he'd never treated her as an equal, and how she wished he'd care for her family the way she did his. Then she left for a bit and snuck back to check on Thea when he was gone.

He pulled her aside before they tried to use Thea as bait. He told her that he did care about her family. "Not the way I care about yours," Laurel corrected him; "You and Thea are my family, Ollie. I will fight for you to the ends of the earth, die for you, but you've never felt the same about me or my family."

"That's not true," he denied.

"Isn't it? You fought against me becoming Black Canary, but you've been supportive of Thea, even with her bloodlust. You want my dad to see how you've become a different man but refuse to acknowledge how he's changed. How I've changed. In Nanda Parbat, after all the secrets, all the lies, I still trusted you. I backed your plan. Yet the second you found out about Sara, you were ready to crucify me, you wouldn't even listen to my plan." They came back around to the fact that he didn't think of her as an equal, didn't treat her as one.

"I was trying to protect you," Oliver responded weakly.

"I don't want or need your protection. I need you to support me, to trust me."

"I'm trying."

They caught Sara, or rather the shell of her sister. The truth that Sara's soul had been lost nearly tore Laurel to pieces, but she stayed strong. She had been prepared to end her sister's second life, but Ollie stopped her. He called in an old friend, John Constantine, and together they rescued Sara's soul. Then her sister truly was back, and she and Ollie were on a firmer page in their friendship. Maybe it wasn't the life she would've picked, especially with her dad under Damien Darhk's thumb, but it was the life she had, and she was going to make the best of it.

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 **A/N** : I try to let my writing show rather than me tell you want I'm trying to convey in the new dynamics of the team. If it's unclear, let me know and I can include a quick note on what's different – if anyone has suggestions on how I could get my ideas across better, that would be awesome!

Also, the part about Felicity and her simplifications – that comes from the fact that I don't like some of her lines about how "intelligent/better than others" she is, and her "I told you so" attitude. I've encountered people who talk like that and to me they usually come off condescending. That doesn't mean Felicity is or is trying to be that way, just that she's rubbing some of the others the wrong way and not realizing it.


	3. Part Three

_Disclaimer: see part one._

 **A/N:** Warning. More Olicity ahead. Apologizes, but it's necessary for the growth of the characters, but it is not endgame.

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Part Three

Life continued to throw him change after change once he accepted his place was in Star City. The team had changed in his absence. Laurel, Dig, and Thea were one well-oiled fighting machine. Adding two new cogs included an adjustment period. Him more so than Felicity, since, after all, she did help the team behind his back.

They persevered and he truly believed the dust was settling on all the upheaval in his life, especially after Thea came to him to have a heart-to-heart. He didn't mind when she asked Laurel stay for the discussion. "She's here to call bull if she thinks either of us is holding back," his little sister explained. "And because she's family."

"So, this is a family discussion then, about what?" Oliver asked, taking a seat on Laurel's couch.

"I have some things I need to get off my chest, about you," Thea started. "I want to start by saying I love you. You're my big brother and nothing will ever change that, but I haven't liked the way you've treated me at times, since your return. And after a lot of talks with Laurel, I've begun to realize that maybe I've been letting that color my perception of your actions and my treatment of you since then."

"Okay, I'm listening," Oliver remained calm. He'd known there was a wall in their relationship since his return. He'd been the culprit at first, because he'd wanted to protect her from his secrets. Their mother's secret had nearly destroyed the trust between them. And since she ran off with Malcolm, there had been a distance on her side as well. He wasn't going to miss this opportunity to rebuild a relationship with his sister. Not when he'd thought he'd used up all his chances.

Laurel played mediator as Thea began to list her grievances. Namely, the lies he'd told because of his secrets and the abandonment she'd felt, both emotionally and physically, time and again. Listening to her, Oliver at last began to see from her point of view and it made him regret some of his own reactions to her choices. Laurel encouraged him to respond and Oliver took the opportunity to explain his side and apologize. Thea apologized too and they gained new insight into each other. The ordeal was emotionally exhausting, but they agreed to leave the past behind and focus on building a more honest and understanding relationship in the future.

As he made to leave, Laurel pressed a hand to his arm. "I wanted to apologize as well. I've judged you harshly over the years and haven't always treated you the best. Sometimes, I forget that you went through a crucible which affects how you respond to situations, and I'm sorry for the times I've hurt you because I didn't try to understand your perspective."

"Not all the blame's on you," he used her own words against her. She'd reminded him and Thea of that fact during their heart-to-heart.

Oliver would've liked the chance to discuss the past with Laurel, but she pointed out he was already wrung out and they had patrol later. She promised she could wait, so he left, feeling better than he had in a long time.

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He was in a good place with everyone important to him: Thea, Laurel, Felicity, and Dig. And once they restored Sara's soul, he even managed to clear the air with the younger Lance sister about their abruptly-ended relationship and the indirect role he played in her death. Then they had to save Ray from Darhk and Oliver was reminded again how much life had changed in his vacation from the hood.

First, Felicity tried to call the shots on how to rescue Ray, but Laurel shut her down for being too emotional. Laurel called for a team vote on how they should proceed; a reminder that while he led in the field, he wasn't the leader anymore but a member of the team. "We listen to Oliver because he's the most experienced and his plans are usually rational, yours isn't Felicity," Laurel explained gently. Felicity hadn't like it, but it wasn't like they gave up on Ray, they just thought things through more. Cisco whipped them up the tech they needed to rescue Ray, saving the team from becoming common crooks in the process – "It's one thing to break into a place we suspect of housing criminals, another to rob a legitimate business. Not quite 'beacon of hope' actions," Thea commented to Oliver on the side, after the team voted down Felicity's plan to steal from Kord Industries. Privately, Oliver could see his sister's point, but his main concern was for Felicity, and Ray. Eventually, after Donna's encouragement, Felicity talked to him about her guilt over Ray's presumed death and it all worked out in the end.

Well, it worked out for the most part. He and Felicity were still on shaky ground after Donna left. His girlfriend accepted that he was friends with her mom, but she didn't appreciate that they occasionally talked about her. Oliver tried to explain that he looking to understand her better, but Felicity appeared to hear that she was difficult to relate to.

The thieves they encountered didn't help matters.

Lyla brought them the case – a group of robbers that targeted military and government institutions for intel, weapons, and tech. ARGUS had just nabbed the hacker of the group and Felicity wanted to go undercover to catch them.

"No. It's too dangerous," Oliver shot her plan down immediately.

"We deal with dangerous on a daily basis, I can handle this," Felicity argued. "I've done undercover work before."

"A track record that makes my case," Oliver countered. He didn't stoop into specifics, because that wasn't how he argued. He didn't even want to be having this debate before the team, but Felicity had refused to take the discussion elsewhere. "These thieves are career criminals. You may be a brilliant hacker, but they're killers. You would be alone with them, no back up, and at the slightest inconsistency, they'll turn on you."

"I could talk my way out of it," Felicity said.

"You could try, but they're trained liars. They'll see right through you," Oliver only wanted to protect Felicity from herself.

"I agree with Felicity, an undercover hacker is the best way to bust these thieves, but I think we should use Ray," Laurel interrupted.

"Why, because he's a man?" Felicity snipped.

"No, because everyone thinks he's dead and he has a powerful suit that he can use to protect himself which fits in his pocket," Laurel replied, her tone dry.

"I suppose those are good points," Felicity admitted begrudgingly.

They went with Ray and he did have to use his suit to defend himself, but they caught the thieves in the end. "I don't like it when you try and make decisions for me, Oliver. I'm a grown, independent woman, fully capable of determining my own limits. I can open doors for myself and pull out my own chair. I'm not a damsel, and I certainly don't need a knight in shining armor."

"I wasn't trying to make a decision for you," Oliver replied. He was making sure she didn't get in over her head; "I know you don't need me to rescue you. That you're fully capable of anything you set your mind to, but there are somethings you haven't been trained to handle. If you want to do undercover work or go into the field more, that's fine. Just let me train you first, so that you can protect yourself in those situations."

Oliver spent two nights on the couch before Felicity finally accepted his apology.

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The biggest revelation came shortly before Sara left; "What do you mean Laurel called the shots?" Felicity gapped at Thea, and even Sara paused in her workout. Laurel exchanged an amused grin with John and Thea. "I discovered I'm a better XO than CO," Diggle shrugged. "And Nyssa started coaxing Laurel into the position before any of us realized what she was up to," Thea added with a smirk.

"Honestly, it's not like I did much. We trained so often, we were pretty in-sync in the field," Laurel ended the conversation with a change in topic.

The shock for the others wore off in seconds, but Oliver found he wasn't really surprised afterward. Ra's had seen Laurel's potential, it stood to reason Nyssa would too. Oliver found himself curious to see if the rest of Ra's observations were true and he began to ask Laurel for her inputs during patrol. She was startled at first, then delighted when he followed her suggestions – it was a painful reminder of her accusation; proof that he hadn't treated her as an equal in a long time. He resolved to treat her better.

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"What did you hurt?" Laurel asked him while they were out on patrol together.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver let his confusion show.

"That's the third large group you've had me fight alone this week. If you're injured, you shouldn't be out in the field."

"I'm fine. I promise. That's not why . . . I've been trying to show you that I think of you as an equal," he manned-up and admitted the truth. Too often his actions had convinced her that he didn't see her that way and so he'd wanted his deeds to at last match his words.

He was prepared for her to be cross or upset with his admission. He was pleasantly surprised when she laughed instead. "I don't need you to hold back to show me you see me as an equal. I need you to listen to me and show that you're taking my opinion and feelings into account – which you've being doing, Ollie. So, stop beating yourself up and fight with me."

"Alright then," he smiled at her from under the hood.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"I want to be a better friend to you, to make up for my mistakes. So, what do you need me to do differently?"

"Nothing. You're perfect just the way you are."

"Right," she scoffed. "How about I make a list and you tell me when I get close?"

He laughed at the offer, knowing she was entirely serious which only made things more humorous for him. She wanted to improve their friendship too, that was all he needed.

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Discovering Andy Diggle Sr. was alive hurt John, and Oliver want so badly to help his friend. He leaned on Laurel for help with John and she seemed to understand more motivated Oliver than reuniting John with his brother. He needed to know there was a chance to fully heal the rift between him and John. She encouraged him to talk to Diggle about his personal hope and she was with them every step, every fight, from the Ghost initiation to the capture of Andy.

It didn't feel right, after capturing Andy, to leave Diggle alone with his thoughts. John's first attempt to get some answers out of his brother hadn't gone well and Oliver knew it was weighing on his friend. After dropping Felicity off at their apartment so that she could get a few hours of sleep before work, Oliver returned to the Bunker.

He found though that his presence wasn't truly needed. John had been found by the two people who best understood what he was going through – Laurel and Thea.

"I propose a toast to the first official Dead-Not Dead Siblings Club," Thea hefted a glass of water.

"I suggest that our first order of business be to pick a new name," Diggle played along, though half-heartedly.

"We don't need a club to be here for you, to talk or commiserate with you. Whatever you need," Thea added, serious.

"How did you handle your sister's betrayal?" Dig asked Laurel.

"Badly," she began her reply as Oliver slipped away.

Though their circumstances weren't exactly the same, Laurel and Thea could empathize better with John's discoveries. Oliver trusted them to look after Diggle. After all, the three of them had their own bond, one formed in the months when it was just them defending the streets of Star City. Between that bond and the one John shared with Oliver and Felicity, Oliver was confident they'd be able to help the Diggle brothers.

Of course, to make matters crazier, Team Flash brought them a case of reincarnating lovers and a murderous immortal named Vandal Savage. The case barely made a blip on Oliver's radar after his encounter with Samantha Clayton.

 _ **He had a son.**_

A son he couldn't tell his family about, not if he wanted a chance to get to know William. He didn't want to keep this secret, but he wanted this chance. He made his choice and though the guilt licked at him, he kept his silence. When Laurel noticed something bugging at him, he brushed off her concern – it was the wrong play to make, he could see the hurt in her eyes. It was one step forward, two steps back with her. Neither one of them was perfect but he knew she was trying to be there for him as a friend and he knew he appeared to be throwing that back in her face.

His relationship with Felicity, on the other hand, was heating up. Amidst Darhk's latest attack and the team's decision to out H.I.V.E to the public, Felicity found the engagement ring he'd meant for her. Darhk, of course, interrupted their first discussion about why Oliver hadn't proposed yet. In the gas chamber room, they really didn't have time to get into all the reasons but his desire to protect her was a prominent one, and her response so much like Laurel's it jolted him. He had the ring in his pocket at the tree lighting ceremony, but all he did was kiss her before the cameras. He couldn't bring himself to get down on one knee, not then. And then they were attacked, and Felicity lay bleeding out in his arms.

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"I'm not in the mood for another lecture," Oliver didn't even bother to turn around as Laurel approached. He wasn't good company right now. Had been avoiding everyone as much as possible since that night. That was why he was on the rooftop of his campaign building.

"Well, too bad, because you aren't going out into the field until you're reasonable again."

"And how do you plan to stop me?" Oliver scoffed, pivoting to face her. Laurel wore a frown to match his own.

"I'll have Cisco lock you out of the Bunker and the team will fight you if that's what it takes."

"You have no right."

"I have every right after the stunt you pulled with Machin. Torturing him for information wasn't enough, you attacked SCPD and let a manic loose in this city, just so you can get your revenge on Darhk. How many good people are going to end up hurt, or dead, because of Machin? Their suffering will be on your hands, because you chose to act without principles, without the team," Laurel was incensed, but she didn't yell at him. She kept a lid on her anger and that only made it worse. Oliver turned back to the skyline, so he didn't have to see the disappointment in her eyes.

"You handed Anarky over to the police without consulting me," Oliver accused, glancing at her as she joined him at the edge.

"John, Thea, and I all agreed it was the right move. We knew where you stood, but we were the majority vote," Laurel simmered. Oliver grunted in response. He waited for the lecture to continue, but she didn't say a word. She stood next to him in silence, offering her companionship – her trust and support. Even when she was pissed at him, she was more than he deserved. The words slipped out of him unexpectedly.

"You know, Dig talked to me before I came up here. He's afraid if I keep down this path, I'll lose the humanity I've regained. That I'll stop being the man Felicity fell in love with. And while I know he's right about parts of it . . . this anger in me, is a part of who am I. I've been afraid to show Felicity, because I want to be the better man she sees, not the darker one I am."

"Is that the reason you haven't proposed? – Yeah, Thea figured you out months ago and told me, don't look so surprised," Laurel rolled her eyes at his reaction; "If you truly believe that, then you're a bigger idiot than I thought. Real love is unconditional, no matter how messed up we are or how many mistakes we make, and Felicity loves you."

"I'm afraid of messing things up," Oliver confessed, finding he couldn't keep his doubts in any longer. He hadn't realized he had so many until Felicity asked was what holding him back; "I keep making the same mistakes with her. When we were in Ivy Town, I tried to become someone I'm not, to make her happy, and I thought it was worth it, to be happy with her. But wearing the hood is a part of who I am, and I'm not sure that's who she wants me to be. When I try to protect her, even when she needs it, she fights me, and I don't know how to get her to see she's not as invincible as she believes. It took Donna's prodding to get her to open up to me about her guilt over Ray, because I don't know how to be there for her the way she needs."

"She needs you, Ollie, just as you need her. You have to work on being better partners to each other, treating each other as equals in all things. I'm not saying it's easy, goodness knows I haven't succeeded, but I know people. I know couples with strong relationships that have survived decades and the key to their success lies in communication. They don't keep secrets and they face their problems together. You have your doubts and I'm sure Felicity has hers, you need to talk with each other, not to your friends."

"I haven't told her about Nanda Parbat," Oliver admitted quietly.

"What's there to tell?" Laurel replied too casually. Oliver could feel her stiffening beside him, though she tried to mask it.

"We got married."

"No, we were forced to participate in a ceremony that's legally invalid."

"It felt real to me when we made love," Oliver tugged Laurel's arm until she turned to face him. Her lips were pressed thin, a new ire burning. "We had sex, Oliver, while facing a life-or-death situation. A mistake born of mutual attraction and the pressure of the charade we were playing."

"It wasn't an act for me," he denied; at last admitting the truth. He'd meant every word he confessed to Ra's. He loved and wanted Felicity, but he would always need the woman standing before him. Even if he didn't know how to tell her.

SMACK!

"What was that for?" Oliver covered the cheek that stung from Laurel's slap.

"Call it a wake-up tap," she backed away from him; her chest heaved. Pain and anger laced every word, but still she didn't yell; "You're scared. Marriage is a big commitment and the old you wants to run, but you can't. You're stronger than that now, and I won't help you repeat the past. I won't let you sabotage your chance at happiness with Felicity."

"I want to be happy with her too, but part of my heart will always belong to you."

"Stop. Don't do this now, Oliver. You've come too far to lapse into old habits. We had our second chance. You blew it. I stopped waiting for you the night Tommy died. I moved on, and so have you," Laurel's tone was bitter, yet there was only pain in her eyes. An old wound he kept reopening.

"Laurel, I'm sorry," he reached for her, but she danced out of range.

"Fight for her, Ollie, before you lose her. Fight the way you do for the city, the way you never did for us."

He wanted to deny her words. He'd fought every day for five years to get back to her, to make amends – to love her the way he should've before. Only she walked away before he could explain, leaving him alone on the roof. He'd lost her. Well and truly lost her. He could see that now. Despite what had been said at Nanda Parbat, she'd lost her faith in him and there would be no reconciliation.

Oliver knew he should be relieved. His final doubt dashed to pieces – she didn't love him that way anymore. Now he had no reasons to hold back with Felicity. Yet all he felt was the loss of an old dream, an important dream that had been with him for nearly a decade. He stayed on the roof a while longer, boxing away the pain and regret.

Then he found his way to Felicity. Her optimism and love buoyed him out of his darkness. He could see the brave face she wore, afraid he was going to walk away because she'd lost her legs. He promised that was never going to happen and pulled out the engagement ring to prove it. He would fight for her, fight for them, and never let her doubt his commitment to her.

She said yes.

* * *

 **A/N2** : With the Oliver/Thea scene. If you try to see things from Thea's perspective, Oliver did a lot of things backwards/contradictory when he was trying to keep his vigilante life a secret from her. That had to have built up some resentment. Also, considering all the people she's lost, permanently or for larger periods of a time, and the fact that Oliver has run off twice (after the Undertaking and the Siege), I figure she has some abandonment issues that needed to be aired. The main reason I mention this is often times the team rags on Oliver for his past mistakes without considering why he made them at the time. After that heart-to-heart in my AU, Thea and Laurel don't, except for on rare occasions when they let things get too personal.

Please let me know if I'm communicating these changes in the story well. If not, constructive and specific ways I could do it better are appreciated.


	4. Part Four

_Disclaimer: see part one._

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Part Four

Why was it so hard to let him go?

This was the question that plagued Laurel in the weeks following Oliver and Felicity's joyous engagement. While Felicity struggled to adjust to her new limitations, the team helped Lyla and the Diggle brothers thwart an attempt to access Rubicon. Laurel kept her interactions with Oliver to a minimum, needing the distance.

She'd let him go and he'd left. Mentally, she'd accepted that he wasn't coming back to her. She'd thought her heart had made peace with the truth as well. They'd settled back into being friends and it had been enough; it had been good. Then he'd come under pressure with Felicity's injuries, blaming himself and reverting to old coping mechanisms. He'd brought up Nanda Parbat and forced Laurel to lie to keep his focus on what really mattered. She knew he didn't love her, not the way she would always love him, and she wouldn't let herself be used again. Nanda Parbat had been nothing but lies on his part, she knew that now. He may have loved her once, but she'd never been his strength, his dream.

That was Felicity's role and Laurel didn't begrudge her Oliver's affections. She'd lost her chance when she pushed him away after Tommy's death. Laurel accepted that and had learned to live with the disappointment.

Rather than let bitterness or ancient history come between them, Laurel had made a concentrated effort to befriend Felicity. It was slow going at first, when Felicity and Oliver returned from Ivy Town, but eventually they found common ground which paved the way for a beautiful friendship.

After Felicity's diagnosis, and her comeback, Laurel called her over for a well-deserved girls' night.

"Okay, I've got mint chocolate chip for Thea, Rocky Road for me, and strawberry shortcake for Felicity, and all the toppings you could ask for. Please tell me you've settled on a movie," Laurel carried three pints of ice cream, three spoons, and an armload of said toppings into her living room.

"We're between an action movie and a historical mystery," Felicity eagerly held out her hands for her pint.

"I'd say we see enough action in our regular lives, why not the whodunit?" Laurel made her pick.

"Fine, but if you two start talking midway through the movie, I'm switching out the DVDs," Thea let out a long-suffering sigh that the other women rolled their eyes at good-naturedly.

They lasted until the killer was painfully obvious, at which point Thea had also lost interest in the movie.

"I'm glad you're back as Overwatch, we missed having you there to watch our backs," Laurel said.

"Didn't you miss my witty side comments as well?" Felicity wagged her eyebrows. She'd been in a funk a few days ago when Laurel visited her at the loft, now the lawyer was glad to see that her friend was getting back to her old self. They laughed and shared a few jokes about some of Felicity's more memorable commentaries. Then Thea wanted to know:

"Heard you went back to work at Palmer Tech, how was that?"

"I'll admit, I had some serious doubts – it's not like the board respected me much before I lost my legs, but once I confronted my inner demons, I found this wealth of strength I didn't realize I had. I realized I don't need my legs to make a difference or live a fulfilling life, so long as I have my intelligence, I can conquer the world."

"Here, here," Thea toasted with a spoon full of ice cream.

"Now, enough about me. What have you two been up to?"

"I'm not as content," Laurel admitted after Thea described how much she was learning and enjoying her exposure to politics; "I became a lawyer to help people, but in a system as broken as ours, I don't feel like I'm accomplishing much. As Black Canary, I do, but sometimes I regret breaking the letter of the law to save the spirit. I guess I wish I could do more in the DA's office to make vigilantism unnecessary."

"Well, I'd miss the excitement, but for a safer city, I'd be willing to give up Overwatch. And if anyone is going to find a way to fix our system, I know it will be you," Felicity said confidently, completely serious. Laurel smiled in gratitude.

Felicity was a wonderful human being, simple as that. The kind of woman Oliver deserved.

She was glad he went back to Felicity. That he got over his fears and followed his heart.

She only wished she hadn't been lying when she said she'd moved on.

Thea's turn for the worse and Roy's albeit-short return distracted her from her internal drama long enough to remember what mattered more. She locked up her heartache and focused on taking care of those around her.

Then Nyssa arrived with the promise of a cure for Thea at the price of Malcolm Merlyn's life. Laurel's code of justice had never included murder, but with Thea's life in the balance, she was willing to put her little sister first – she only wished it didn't have to be Oliver's hand that struck the blow. She was proud of him for trying to find another way. A sign that he was still changing, for the better. She should've been less blood-thirsty, even if the man in question was Malcolm Merlyn. Laurel had been on her way to tell Oliver as much when she overheard his conversation with the locked-up Nyssa.

"I'm not here to plead Thea's case again. You know what she means to me, why I can't take Malcolm from her. What I want is for you to see me, the real me. I know I killed your father, and I'm sorry that I did, but I'm not that person any more. Al Sah-Him was who your father wanted me to be, what he wanted you to be, but I'm trying to be something better. To choose a path that inspires people to be better, and I can't do that if I resort to killing a man to save another."

"My father would say strength is more important than fleeting goals of betterment. He would be very disappointed in your aspirations, brother-in-law. He would want you to kill Malcolm Merlyn."

"Which is how I know it's the wrong call to make. I know where my strength comes from, and its in relationships your father never understood. My strengths beat him in the end."

There was a pause where Nyssa considered Oliver's words. What Laurel wouldn't give to see their expressions right now, to know what they were thinking. As it was, she felt slightly bad for overhearing this private conversation, but she didn't dare try to sneak away – they'd both hear her if she did. (She didn't realize they already knew she was there, of the words and understanding that passed between the two unsaid.)

"What would you have me do, brother-in-law?"

"Help me find a way for all of us to get what we want without either of us becoming your father in the process," Oliver implored.

In the end, Oliver challenged Malcolm to trial by combat. It was his right as the previous, true heir to the last Ra's al Ghul. Malcolm was cocky enough to accept the challenge and he lost. He wanted Oliver to kill him, but Oliver only took his hand. The Demon's Head ring was given to Nyssa, and to finally end her father's legacy, she disbanded the League and melted the ring. Laurel was proud of her blood-sister, even though she hated to see Nyssa leave so soon after – but Nyssa wanted to see more of the world as herself, not an assassin, and she wanted to keep an eye on Malcolm, because she still didn't trust him.

"Here's a question: Why do you keep calling Oliver brother-in-law?" John asked when the team plus Nyssa and Quentin were celebrating Thea's good health.

"Dinah is my sister, as Oliver is her husband under League law, that makes him my brother-in-law," Nyssa answered. The bland expression she wore told Laurel she knew very well the can of worms she was opening and yet she'd done it anyway.

Laurel handled explaining the situation to her dad, who nearly choked on his drink at the news. She let Ollie explain to Felicity and John why it didn't matter. Quentin wound up seeing right through her nonchalance act. She didn't cry, but it felt good to have her dad hold her as she mourned the loss of a future that she hadn't realized she still wanted, until it was already gone. Nyssa dropped in to say goodbye and offered Laurel a ceremonial divorce blade. "Thank you, but no. The marriage was never real, there's no point in dragging the drama out with a fake divorce."

Oliver had managed to appease Felicity before his mayoral debate with Ruve Adams. The team's attempt to track Ruve to her husband failed, but so did Darhk's attempt to kill Quentin and stop the debate. After the debate, Laurel could see something was troubling Thea, but the younger Queen didn't want to talk about it. Laurel gave Thea space on the issue, but John didn't give her any on the truth about Nanda Parbat.

"I thought we were friends, Laurel. Why didn't you tell me? You told Thea," Diggle cornered her alone.

Laurel defended her right to privacy and denied that a fake marriage was a real secret. John didn't believe her. Somehow, he knew it had meant more to Laurel and he acted like it had meant something to Oliver too.

"If you're worried about blind spots, don't be. Ollie's moved on and so have I. We haven't let it affect our performance on the team, you shouldn't either."

Yet John's actions did haunt her. Made her second guess some of her assumptions about Oliver. Was there a chance that part of him still loved her?

Having the complete picture, Thea followed Laurel and Oliver's lead and pretended the whole affair had never happened. Because, despite what had been said and done in Nanda Parbat, Oliver and Laurel had reached a peaceful compromise. They'd rebuilt their friendship and neither wanted to jeopardize that. Diggle watched both of them rather closely and Felicity gave Laurel the cold shoulder until she apologized for keeping the secret.

For a time, they returned to normal, but there were occasional bumps along the way. The last time anyone brought up Nanda Parbat was when they were tracking a couple holding-up convenience stores. It didn't take long for the team to uncover the couple's identities and discover their daughter's health condition which insurance wouldn't cover. Oliver wanted to confront the couple and convince them to find the money a better way, rather than separating them from their ill child.

"Yes, because that worked out so well with the Restons," Felicity pointed out.

"I'm not going to offer them a job or let them keep the money. Times have been tough, but I'm certain that if they'd known any other way to get their daughter the medical attention she needs, they would've taken it over becoming criminals."

"You gave the Restons a second chance, a good one, but they didn't take it because they found the criminal path easier. Felicity's right, you're not thinking this through," Diggle argued.

"Why do you want to help the Crockers so much?" Laurel asked Oliver.

"To remind them that they aren't alone. There are people out there who will help them in their hour of need. They've been trying to care for their daughter alone, either because they didn't know how to ask for help or who. We can change that for them and get them back on the right path. There is no justice in separating them from their daughter when she needs them now more than ever."

"Then I vote we try Oliver's way," Laurel was open to a team discussion before they made a final call, but she could already tell that Thea was leaning their way.

"Of course, you agree with him, because Oliver can do no wrong in your sight," Felicity huffed. Then muttered; "Not even in Nanda Parbat." The others chose to let that slide rather than rehash the old argument.

"This isn't about Ollie. I happen to believe in seeing the best in people and I admire Oliver's preference to give the Crockers a second chance. We've all made the wrong choice before and needed a wake-up call – and a second chance."

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 _ **He had a son.**_

The reality that Oliver had a son wasn't that surprising. As her dad pointed out, he used to get around a lot. It wouldn't have been surprising to learn he had more than one child. What stung was knowing his son had been conceived and born when he was with her. She'd figured it out the moment William's age had been mentioned, but what truly hurt was having to hear Samantha's apology first.

She'd forgiven Samantha for the same reason she'd forgiven Sara – because the old Ollie could charm his way in and out of trouble, which even Laurel hadn't been immune to. She could even forgive him for lying now, for brushing her off when she offered to listen. He kept his promise to Samantha because he wanted a chance to get to know his son – he wanted time with his own flesh and blood; a want she understood acutely. What she couldn't forget was how he forgot her feelings again, once the truth came out – William, and Felicity, even Samantha, were his priority.

"I'm sorry," Thea murmured as they got into position on the bike. With the aid of Vixen, Mari McCabe, they'd tracked the source of Darhk's magic. They were preparing to strike at him early rather than trust Damien to be true to his word; a decision Oliver had left in Laurel's hands because he thought she would be more objective, and for William's sake she hoped he was right. "I wanted to tell you about William when I found out, but Samantha had made her rules clear."

"It's all right, Thea," Laurel ditched codenames because they had had their mics off and they were alone on the road; "It wasn't your choice to make. You have nothing to be sorry for. This is on Ollie."

They rescued William, destroyed the source of Darhk's magic, and captured the man who'd been terrorizing their city for months in one fell swoop. Laurel should've felt happy at their accomplishments, instead all she felt was the bite of anger and pain. Hurt and irritation seemed to simmer in her more often than late, which wasn't like her, and made her wonder if Nyssa hadn't been wrong in her belief that the Pit still was affecting Laurel. She worked to cleanse the negativity from her system as she and Oliver said their goodbyes to Mari on the road back to Detroit. Mari gave Oliver some parting advice on William, then she was gone.

"You gonna tell me why you're mad at me now?" Oliver blocked her door on the car. (He wished she wouldn't do this. Keep everything bottled up until he pushed. Then she vented at him, because of him.)

"You really have to ask?"

"This is about William."

"No, it about you and how you handled the situation."

"I told you, Samantha made me promise."

"Three months ago, she made you promise three months ago. Your mom didn't write that check three months ago," Laurel pushed back the pain, but she couldn't suppress all the anger.

"She told me she lost the baby," Oliver's face rippled with remembered disappointment; the loss of something he'd feared but wanted. Laurel made certain to keep her expression blank.

"You didn't tell me about her, about the baby. I'd taken you back before, forgiven you, but you didn't tell me."

"It was different, then. I was different."

"Yeah, well, it's different for me now," she used to rationalize his actions. Forgive him and forget, because she thought he loved her as she loved him. It had taken the Gambit for her to realize how broken he'd left her. She used to think she didn't deserve to be loved the way she wanted. She'd felt like damaged goods, like there was something wrong with her and that was why he cheated. Tommy had been the one to show her she wasn't broken, that she was loved the way she'd hoped, and she'd lost him, choosing a foolish dream that crumbled to ash the night of the Undertaking; "I have to work in a few hours, Ollie. Can we please drop this and just go?"

"Do you hate me?" he asked as he drove towards her and Thea's apartment.

"Of course not, Ollie," she loved him with all her heart and trusted him with everything but her heart. She was done making that mistake. Done accepting a love less than what she gave. Maybe she'd fall in love with someone else down the road, maybe she wouldn't. At least now she knew what she wanted and wouldn't settle for anything else.

"What would you have done in my place?"

"I wouldn't have cheated," Laurel replied without missing a beat, but a glance at Oliver confirmed he wanted more; "I would've told the truth, back when you first knew about the baby, and accepted the consequences. I would've accepted the deal with Samantha, because I would've wanted a chance to know my child too."

"And now?"

"That decision is yours to make, Oliver. I'm not the one you should be asking for an opinion," Laurel choked back the pain that bloomed in her chest, half surprised she wasn't bleeding from how much this old wound hurt; "If William were my child, I'd do everything humanly possible to have him in my life, to be in his, but his safety, his happiness would be my first priority. Sometimes, the best way to show how much we love someone is to let them go."

They drove in silence the rest of the way. When Laurel went to get out, Oliver grabbed her hand. She looked back into the car and saw the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Laurel."

"For what?" she asked tiredly.

"For cheating on you when I should've been true. For lying and keeping secrets. For making you doubt that I see you as an equal – I always felt I was the one who was less, not you. I'm sorry for not telling you about Samantha, earlier. Mostly, I'm sorry for hurting you, every single way that I have."

Why did he have to make this so hard? Reminding her again and again, how he'd changed and was changing. It only made her love him more.

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Thea found him drinking on the patio. "Want to talk about what's bugging you?" she asked, eying his three empty beers and the fourth he was drinking. He didn't, not really, but he told her anyway.

His fiancé had walked out on him – literally, walked out, after weeks of being paralyzed – and he had no one to blame but himself. He knew that but part of him didn't regret his decision to make the call on his own. It was an ingrained response anymore. When he found himself in a tight spot and had a tough call to make, rather than put the pressure on anyone else's shoulders, he assumed the responsibility alone; to protect those he loved, but they never saw it that way.

"If I'm being honest with myself, I didn't want to hear Felicity's opinion, because I wasn't confident that she'd agree with my decision. I love William; he's my son. But to her, he's just a boy she knew nothing about until a couple days ago. A stranger she has no emotional attachment to and no reason to see things from my perspective. So, I locked her out and did what I do best."

"We're Queens. We tend to go to the extreme when protecting our family," Thea agreed.

"Not like that, Thea. I mean that I sabotaged my relationships. With Felicity, and with Laurel. Gah," Oliver scrubbed at his face, remembering the pain he'd seen in Laurel's eyes as she talked about William; "I messed up big time with Laurel again. I should've pulled her aside the moment Samantha came to me and apologized. Instead I was a coward, I didn't want to face the history of my mistakes with her, and not acknowledging it only hurt her worse."

Thea absorbed his words and didn't immediately reply. Oliver drowned his misery in another drink – he could kick himself for a few hours. After all, they'd stopped Darhk, even if it had cost him majority of his happiness in his personal life.

"I'm not sure how to help you with Felicity, but I can promise you that you haven't lost Laurel. Not yet, and probably not ever," Thea replied. Oliver gave her a disbelieving look and took another long draw from his beer.

"I keep hurting her without even trying. If she's smart, she'll cut me out of her life for good."

"You aren't hurting her. Yes, you hurt her in the past, but she's forgiven you. That's why I'm here. Laurel sent me to tell you, she's forgiven you, but she needs a little space. This has brought up some painful memories the two of you never properly addressed before. She wants to sort through her feelings, to get them under control, before you talk again, because she doesn't want to say anything in the heat of the moment that she'll regret."

"That does sound a little like Laurel," normally, she wasn't so thoughtful when her emotions got the best of her, but she was changing like the rest of them.

"Even if you didn't have her, you still have me," Thea reminded him. And Oliver set the beer bottle down and wrapped his little sister in a hug. Yes, he still had her, and he would work to repair the damage to his other relationships the best he could. He wasn't the same man he'd been when he returned from the island, or even from Ivy Town, and that was a good thing.

* * *

 **A/N** : As I mentioned the first go-around, the point of this story is to give Oliver and Laurel a chance to address the messy history they had before the island, which I felt the show never properly did. They would've needed to if they'd ever tried to bring Laurel and Oliver together again, because he lied and cheated on her so often that had to have left scars and trust issues. (And yes, I'm aware Lauriver was never going to be endgame – which is why I don't watch the show anymore, but I write because it gives me a chance to better my skills and its cathartic. I hope that the _Birds of Prey_ movie at last fulfills my dreams of a live-action BC/GA romance with a Green Arrow/Oliver Queen cameo.)


	5. Part Five

_Disclaimer: see part one._

* * *

Part Five

Oliver had promised to fight for Felicity, for them as a couple. When she walked out because he'd messed up again, he tried to win her back. He poured his heart out to her in his vows while trying to capture Carrie Cutter, but it did no good. She'd shut him out and written him off. He'd kept one too many secrets, made one too many decisions alone.

"I told you to communicate with her, to work on being her partner, her equal," Laurel tutted gently. They were in her living room, Oliver crashing on her couch since he'd ceded the apartment to Felicity.

"I was trying, but it's not that easy," Oliver defended; "You may know people who've made it work for decades, but your parents were the best role models of a healthy relationship I had growing up."

That had Laurel quieting. She was willing to give him more credit afterward, considering his only other role models were his parents' marriage (see: infidelity) and the Merlyns' (one half murdered, the other half mad). Laurel became his rock, his council, his voice of reason as he dealt with his heartache over the break up, and Brie Larvan. He wasn't completely over Felicity by the time they captured their Bug-Eyed Bandit, but he was done wallowing in self-pity.

"Give her some time," Laurel advised as they suited up for patrol that evening.

Oliver made no promises. Now that he was done berating himself, he was starting to take a hard look at his relationship with Felicity and a part of him couldn't help but compare her with Laurel. If Laurel could forgive him after everything that he'd done to her, most of which was far worse than the mistakes he'd made with Felicity, how could Felicity claim to love him more but still be unwilling to forgive him?

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"Mmm, smells good. What's all this for?" Laurel walked into her kitchen upon her return home. She found Oliver and a pot of chili present.

"I heard about your dad's suspension. Thought I'd see how he's holding up and I figured he'd be less likely to turn me away if I brought some food over."

"He wouldn't turn you away, even without your infamous chili," Laurel said, inspecting the pot surreptitiously. Oliver chuckled, reading her intentions easily.

"You don't have to sneak any, I made enough to share. After all, you've been working wonders lately," he smiled at her.

"Now what are you talking about?"

"You've been counseling me and saving the case against Darhk in court. That couldn't have been easy, and I wanted to show my appreciation for how great a friend you are."

"Thank you, but you didn't have to. One is my job, after all, which I was highly motivated to win, and the other was my pleasure. Seeing you happy again is all the thanks I need."

"And that's why you're a better friend than me," Oliver murmured, stirring the almost-ready chili. He would never be able to encourage Laurel to fight for another man the way she helped him with Felicity. But then, she'd moved on, and he was beginning to realize, he hadn't.

"You're a great friend too, you know," she reminded him. Oliver kept his expression neutral – she'd misunderstood, and he didn't want her catching wind of what he'd meant.

"Hey, I mean it, Ollie," Laurel touched his arm to get him to look at her. "Just look at all the times you've saved my life. You know me better than anyone. You're my oldest, dearest, and best friend, and that's never going to change."

"I know. You're mine too," he smiled at her and it was true. Dig was like a brother and Barry was a close friend, but neither of them could compete with Laurel. With their history. Tommy used to share the role with Laurel, and if he'd been alive, Oliver liked to hope that they would've made up by now.

When Laurel smiled at him, happy he saw their friendship in the same light, that was when he knew without a doubt. He was still in love with his best friend.

Then he had to reach around her for the container he needed and for a moment he almost held her in his arms. There was quite a bit of space between them, but the air still crackled with the physical attraction that had defined their relationship from the start. Oliver found his gaze dropping to Laurel's lips, wanting to taste them again. He couldn't though, because all she wanted from him was friendship. A fact made abundantly clear when she stiffed.

"Ahem, are you two going to ogle each other the rest of the night? Because I really want a bowl of that chili now," Thea smirked, unapologetically, from the doorway.

"I, uh, need to change," Laurel ducked around him and headed for her room, a blush forming.

"Oh, just ask her out already," Thea whispered as she helped herself to the chili. Oliver glared at his unhelpful sister then took the spoon to dole out Quentin's portion.

He managed to catch Laurel on his way out the door. "Hey, would you go to dinner with me some time? Not as a date, just as friends. These last few days reminded me how much I enjoy talking with you. How I've missed you."

"Sure, just let me check my schedule."

One dinner turned into three, though Oliver made certain to keep them as un-date-like as possible. He took her to a Big Belly Burger and teased her for teaching Nyssa to dip her fries in milkshakes. He volunteered them to watch baby JJ for one night and let her drag him to a late-night street vendor for the third. He also made certain to spend time with Thea when his sister wasn't out with Alex. Sometimes, Laurel joined them.

Between Darhk, Felicity's paralysis, and the wedding preparations, Oliver realized he hadn't been spending as much time with his friends and sister outside of their night activities and he wanted to make up for that. He promised himself, he'd do better at staying connected with them in the future – Thea's idea of weekly family dinners seemed like a good start.

It was on their third friend-date that Oliver grabbed Laurel's hand as they were leaving the street vendor behind and impulsively, he led her to a nearby park. Laurel laughed but didn't object. She also didn't pull her hand out of his when they reached the park.

"I used to dream about this, on the island," Oliver told her quietly.

"Walking through a park?"

"Being here with you again. As a friend. Having you forgive me and let me be a part of your life – that was what got me home through the hardest trials, when wanting to see my family wasn't enough. I had a goal, to get back to you, and spend my whole life apologizing if I had to, just to see you happy again. It wasn't about me or my own happiness but righting my biggest mistake. And that need, that dream, it gave me strength. You gave me strength to return home."

Laurel stopped walked and turned to face him directly. Her hand squeezed his tightly but didn't let go. "Ollie, is that what you meant . . . in Nanda Parbat?"

"Yes," he confessed. Ra's had made him recall every moment on the island, so that he could understand the man Oliver was at the core. Oliver hadn't been able to hold anything back, but Ra's hadn't been disappointed. He'd respected the atonement that had driven Oliver to become a new man and sought to remold that dream to make Oliver into his heir.

"It wasn't an act for me, either," she whispered. "Being with you in Nanda Parbat, I finally felt whole again. And I'm sorry, for pushing you away after Tommy died. He loved us both and never would've objected to us being happy together. I should've seen that, but I wanted to hurt us both at the time."

"Laurel," he drew her closer, but she pressed a hand to his chest to keep them apart.

"I want you to be happy, Ollie, but going back down this path, after all the mistakes we've both made, that isn't healthy. I don't want to repeat the past."

"I don't want to repeat the past either. I want to start something new with you – we've both changed, why can't our relationship change as well? Let's make a new path altogether."

His phone interrupted them before he could say more. He would've let it go to voicemail, except Laurel's went off a second later. He answered.

And everything went downhill from there.

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The arrow hurt worse coming out than it did going in. Laurel cried out as Oliver did the deed; he didn't trust the doctors to know how to remove the arrowhead without causing greater damage. He carried her into the hospital himself; Laurel faded in and out due to the blood loss. She thought she heard them mention surgery, but when she woke up, she was in a bed in a private room and Ollie was still dressed in the suit.

"What happened?" Laurel moved cautiously. There was a burning sensation where the arrow had penetrated but not as bad as before. Laurel suspected the IV in her arm had something to do with the lessened pain. A closer look revealed a saline drip, not painkillers. Good, her sobriety remained intact.

Ollie didn't answer right away, going to the door to get a doctor instead. Dr. Schwartz entered, relived to see Laurel awake, yet worried as well. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess. Considering. Will one of you tell me what's wrong?"

"They were going to take you to surgery, when something unexpected happened," Ollie spoke without the voice distorter on. He paused and looked at Dr. Schwartz to take over.

"You stopped bleeding on your own," the doctor explained matter-of-factly; "In minutes we realized your cells were regenerating faster than you were experiencing hypovolemia."

"You were healing yourself," Ollie clarified.

"Yes," Dr. Schwartz nodded; "And you've continued to do so at an unprecedented rate – I've never seen anything like this."

"I'm not, this isn't like the mirakuru is it?" Laurel's mind flashed to the worst-case scenario.

"No," Oliver was quick to assure her; "With all the magic at play when you were stabbed, I suspect this might be related to the Pit." Dr. Schwartz made a sound of disbelief, but Laurel hardly paid her any heed. Her eyes were on Oliver, her fear evident. If this was the Pit, did that mean she was going to develop the bloodlust?

"Whatever the cause, at your current rate you'll be fully healed within the next twelve hours."

Only Laurel didn't have twelve hours to rest in bed.

As happy as her dad was to find her quickly on the mend, he feared what Darhk would do when he learned she was alive – Darhk had made his promise, he wouldn't stop until Laurel was dead. Quentin refused to give Damien the chance. He confronted Ruve, trying to get to Damien, and get to him he did. Darhk called the Green Arrow to taunt him with the news, crowing about the torture he had planned.

Laurel's wound was healed enough that she could get out of bed and suit up, which was what she did despite the team's objections. With Curtis's assist, since Felicity was still on break, they tracked her dad's cell to a warehouse. Needless to say, Darhk was shocked to see Black Canary up and about, but not so shocked he forget to cut her dad's throat.

"NO!" Laurel's cry turned into an earsplitting scream and her scream became a physical force which sent Darhk and his Ghosts flying.

Laurel raced to her father, heedless of the growing pain in her abdomen. She was too late.

Darhk recovered quickly and fled.

The team gathered around Laurel and the fallen Lance.

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Though he'd been in her shoes, Oliver couldn't find the words to help Laurel in her grief. He'd accompanied her to the morgue, where she said her first goodbye. He made a call to her sisters, though only one got back to him. "Brother-in-law?" Nyssa answered warily.

"Your sister needs you." And she promised she was on her way.

Laurel didn't cry, she didn't speak. She barely wanted to get out of bed. The whole team was fracturing around him and Oliver knew he had to stay strong for them, to help them get through this.

At first, it helped to focus on the newest threat – the girl masquerading as Black Canary, complete with Laurel's stolen collar. Yet his team needed him at every turn. He talked with Felicity and how she was blaming herself to find reason in the heartbreak. He felt an old flicker of their connection as she started to appreciate the deaths he carried on his shoulders, but he found he no longer cared if they might reconcile. Another woman lingered on his mind these days.

He reached down deep to counsel John after Spartan attacked the mayor. He wasn't certain he got through to his brother-in-arms, but with Thea, he found words weren't necessary. Quentin may not have always agreed with them and at times even hated Oliver, but he'd been a father figure to the Queen siblings. Often times a better father than their own.

Nyssa helped corral Laurel out of bed and into her suit in time to stop Evelyn Sharp and prevent Ruve Darhk from tarnishing Black Canary's reputation.

When it was over, Oliver held onto Laurel and Thea as they all cried on their couch.

A good man was dead, and nothing could make that right again.

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Laurel clung to her mother almost as much as Dinah clung to her. Thea was close at hand, Nyssa looking after her while Oliver gave Quentin's eulogy. Her mother wanted to hold onto hope that Dad could be resurrected like Sara, but Laurel knew the hard truth. It hurt to make her mom face reality, to have to face it herself. (Her parents may have divorced, but they still loved each other as dearly as they loved their daughters.) Oliver spoke beautifully, from the heart. When he finished, he held Laurel's hand and hugged Thea close. Laurel drew strength from him in a way she hadn't in a long time. Her dad had told her for years that she was his rock, but the fact was he'd been hers in return.

"John, I know you want to blame yourself, to blame Andy, but don't. Darhk is the one who killed my dad, not you. None of what happened is your fault," Laurel tried to assure her friend.

They were in the Bunker, days after the funeral. Laurel had asked them to come, but only Oliver and Thea knew why. They'd helped her pack her bags the night before.

"Felicity, you're one of the strongest people I know, and the team needs you right now to help them stay together. I need you to look after them for me," Laurel hugged her blonde-haired friend.

"You say that as if you're leaving," Felicity noted with concern.

"I am, just for a little while. I'm going back to Central City with my mom. We need each other right now, and I need to understand what this means," Laurel touched her throat. She hadn't been able to reproduce her new Cry yet, but then she wasn't quite ready to, scared of what all it might mean.

"Team Flash handles meta-humans and time travel on a weekly basis, about time they get a taste of something new," Thea quipped, watery eyed.

"Chin up, Speedy, I promise, I'll be back."

She shared a bear hug with her little sister and then a silent one with Oliver. She was glad when he chose to accompany her to the surface, alone. At the car, he wrapped her in his arms and Laurel clung to him, needing a few minutes of feeling warm and loved and protected while the rest of her world felt adrift, lonely, and cold. She needed him and as much as it scared her to admit it, she trusted him with all that she was, including her heart. He wasn't the same man he'd been so long ago.

"I'm here for you, night and day. All you have to do is call," he murmured into her hair, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Laurel eased back in his embrace to cup his face.

"I know what you're thinking right now. That none of this would've happened if you'd only put an arrow in Darhk when you had the chance. Don't blame yourself, I don't. Don't go after Darhk to kill him. Part of me wants you to, but revenge isn't justice. Remember who you are, who you want to be. This city needs you to be a beacon of hope, so be that. Be the man you told Dad you could be, the man he saw you as."

"I'll try," Oliver rasped and that was enough for Laurel.

She leaned up and pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to his lips. Oliver threaded his hand through her hair and when she pulled back, he captured her mouth again. Their teeth clinked, their tongues clashed. They tasted and touched each other in a frenzy of grief and longing, regret and love. It was beautiful. It was painful. It was entirely them.

* * *

 **A/N** : RIP Quentin Lance. Like I said, the flashforwards still happened in this AU. Just a different body and with the changes I'm making, his character really had nothing left to contribute except to serve as a motivator for Oliver and the reason to unleash Laurel's Cry.

I've been trying to flesh out the idea that the team eventually becomes one big family of choice – how am I doing and does anyone have any suggestions on how I can do it better?


	6. Part Six

_Disclaimer: see part one._

* * *

Part Six

Laurel left without a word after their kiss. Oliver was okay with that. Neither of them was in a good place to discuss what that kiss had meant. They were both too raw with loss. They would talk though, when she returned from Central City. Talk about everything. And Oliver would tell her the truth, about his feelings. Part of him still feared a rejection, but he was clinging to a new confidence that he hadn't completely lost her. Their kiss gave him hope that she still loved him enough to give him another chance. Whether she wanted him or not, he needed her to at last see what she meant to him. All that she meant to him.

He had plenty to keep him busy. Laurel had asked him not to kill Darhk, to honor Quentin by getting justice not revenge. He had no idea how to stop Darhk; no more than he knew how to make the villain pay for his crimes. He didn't give up, didn't stop searching for that better path – when Laurel asked, he answered, even if it wasn't always the response she wanted. The truth was, he wanted to find another path too. He was tired of the unending cycle of violence his life had become. He was tired of being the killer, of losing a part of himself with every life he took. He wanted to be a hero for once in life, an honest to goodness hero. He wasn't certain he had it in him, but he was going to try. For Quentin, for Laurel, even Thea and Roy, John and Felicity. Mostly though, he was going to do it for himself. A vigilante could get the job done and maybe earn the respect of his city, but a hero inspired people and that was the legacy Oliver had wanted to create when he became the Green Arrow. It was the legacy he would create.

Oliver chose to focus on one problem at a time and sought a defense against Darhk's magic first. This led him to Hub City, Felicity on his heels despite his objections, and there he met Constantine's contact, Ersin Fortuna. Ersin told him the only way to beat Darhk, and the death and fear he wrought, was to counter with the opposite. A battle of light and darkness – a fight Oliver was long familiar with inside himself. Ersin tested him and though he past her first few tests, he failed the one that dug too deep.

"True goodness isn't about being better or the best version of yourself. It's having the strength to hold to your convictions even when the world tells you you're wrong. To fight in the light, you must have faith and trust. To find the inner strength to be kind and fair to those who have wronged you. Most of all, you need love. To love and be loved," Ersin explained.

"Test me again," Oliver demanded, even though the shaman had expressed doubt in his ability to fight his inner darkness.

Ersin came at him again and this time, Oliver reached deeper than before. He didn't focus on his hopes for his city and family. Not his desire to be a better man, like the one Felicity had fallen in love with. He reached for the strength that had brought him home, the faith that had helped him return despite the mistakes he'd made and the horrors he'd committed. His dream of forgiveness and love.

There was the feel of an explosion as Ersin's magic broke on Oliver's defense. There was no sound but both of them stumbled back at the shift in power. "You did it!" Felicity exclaimed and hugged Oliver in her excitement. She recalled herself and quickly let him go, turning to the shaman; "You were wrong about him, his light is greater than his darkness."

"Perhaps," Ersin replied, regarding Oliver in speculation.

They left Ms. Fortuna and returned to Star City in time to save Lyla, John, and JJ from Darhk. Oliver had to test his defense again in the battle against Damien. His new power held. Andy Diggle died at his brother's hand and Lyla revealed the danger of Rubicon to the team; the weapon now in Darhk's hands.

"At least now we have a way to combat Darhk's magic," Felicity reminded them of the day's good news.

"How did you do that?" Lyla asked Oliver.

"I remembered the dream I used to get home, the hope that carried me through everything the island threw at me. A dream I thought I'd lost." _Laurel. His Laurel._

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"Ollie? Has something happened?" Laurel greeted him over the phone.

"Yes, but it can wait," he said, thinking of Andy and Rubicon; "I wanted to tell you I've found a way to counter Darhk's magic. Without it, he's just a man, and I can beat him. I can get justice for your dad."

"That's great, Ollie, but how can you counter his magic?"

He told her about the visit to Ersin Fortuna and using his old dream and the convictions that brought him home. "Even when we're a part, you inspire me. You give me the strength to fight my inner darkness, to be the man I've always wanted to be."

"I'm flattered, Ollie, truly, but that's all you. Your strength comes from you alone and you have a light in you that's so bright, it's blinding. It's your determination, your compassion, and your love – those qualities I love most about you." Oliver smiled at her compliments. Maybe the true strength came from him, but she inspired him to find that strength inside himself. She always had. Then the last part of her sentence caught up with him.

"You love me, huh?"

"Yes," she took a deep breath as if to steady her nerves; "In case you haven't figured it out yet – Oliver Queen, you are the love of my life, always and forever."

Her words stunned him. A gift he'd never thought he'd have again. Before he could tell her how he felt, how he wanted one last chance to love her right, she had to go. There was trouble on her end and with Barry powerless, Team Flash needed her help. Before hanging up, she promised they'd talk when she returned.

Oliver looked down at his phone and found himself smiling. He was the love of her life. He didn't care what mistakes they'd made in the past, he wasn't letting that go. He wasn't going to lose her or push her away again. If he had to spend the rest of his life fighting to convince her that she was the love of his, then so be it. He was going to win her back.

With new determination and a greater faith in life and love, Oliver dialed his sister because he needed to share this news with someone who would support him completely. Only Thea's phone went straight to voicemail and Oliver found his giddiness ebbing at the lack of response.

Thea's absence when the team needed her didn't sit right with Oliver and her continued silence convinced him something was wrong. Quickly enough they learned his sister had been kidnapped. While they searched for Thea and Damien Darhk, another crisis drew their attention. To stop Rubicon, the team recruited Felicity's father for help. Finding Noah Kuttler required Donna's help, which wasn't easy to get as she was caught in her grief over Quentin's death – she hadn't known him long, but she'd loved him all the same. Eventually, they found Noah and together the father-daughter duo managed to avert the missiles. All save one which they had to retarget to the smaller town of Havenrock. Felicity felt those deaths were on her shoulders, but she muscled through as Darhk wasn't done yet.

They found and rescued Thea from Darhk's Ark, destroying the underground city in the process. Thea was under Darhk's control when they found her but between Oliver and John they managed to break her out of the hypnosis. Ruve died at Lonnie Machin's hand, Malcolm pulled another one of his vanishing acts, and the team got Nora Darhk safely out of the doomed Ark. Darhk, unfortunately, was more powerful than ever and completely unhinged with his wife's death and his plans disintegrating.

Thea threatened Nora's life to save Felicity, Donna, and Curtis from the horrible fates Damien had planned. Unfortunately, he took his daughter, and Felicity's anti-Rubicon program with him. It was another set back that the team couldn't afford, pushing them all to question how far they'd be willing to go stop the manic. Forcing Oliver to question yet again if he was really cut out to be a hero or always doomed to remain a vigilante in the shadows.

Oliver stepped away from the team after they reorganized in the Bunker. The situation was dire, and they needed all the help they could get. He knew Barry had his powers back but Zoom remained too great a threat for Team Flash to come to Star City. Still there was one person he knew they could spare. His call went straight to Laurel's voicemail.

"Hey Pretty Bird," the endearment slipped out without a thought. He'd never called her it before but decided the moniker fit and he didn't regret using it. "Our plan to stop Darhk failed. His magic is too strong for me to stop him alone and we could really use your help. The city needs you. I need you. . . I love you."

He hadn't wanted the first time he said those words in years to be over the phone, but he didn't know if he'd live to see her again. He wanted her to know how he felt in case he died. There was nothing more he needed to say after that and too much he wanted to but couldn't fit in the time allotted. He ended the call and returned to the team.

Though they tracked Felicity's laptop, the ARGUS team Lyla sent in only added to Darhk's power with their deaths. The team was feeling all but hopeless when the Ghosts attacked their base. They were outgunned and outnumbered until a scream sent half the enemy flying.

Black Canary had returned and not a moment too soon.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to fight my evil doppelganger," Laurel explained as they regrouped after the attack.

"Did you get the answers you were looking for?" John asked.

"Some, from an old friend of my mom's actually, and Team Flash helped me to learn control of my new Cry," Laurel said as she hugged every member of their team. She hugged Oliver last; "Later?" he hummed in her ear and she nodded in agreement. The hint of a smile on her lips told him she'd gotten his message.

When she asked what the plan was to stop Darhk, the team admitted they were fresh out. The missile Darhk launched at the city didn't help matters. Laurel clapped her hands to get everybody's attention, including the new guy, Curtis.

"I know Darhk is powerful, but he's only one man. He's thrown everything he has at us, but we're still here. We're a team, a family, and so long as we have each other, we'll keep fighting because Star City is our home. It takes a special kind of person to live here, tenacious, but also hopeful," Laurel smiled at her team one at a time as she spoke, showing them the confidence she had in them; "For the last three years we faced one crisis after another, but every year this team has pulled together and saved us all. You've inspired me and this city with your actions. Now it's time to remember, we're not alone in this fight. We have a city full of people like us, who have fought in their own way to keep their home. We can't give up on them now. We're all here because we want to be beacons of hope for them, now we need to remember that they're our beacon."

Laurel's faith in the team, in the citizens, revitalized the team. While Felicity and Curtis worked together to stop the missile before Star City was destroyed, Oliver gave his own speech to the people, rallying them to have the same hope in each other. Then the team suited up again and divided. Felicity, Curtis, and Thea went to stop Darhk's hacker, Cooper. John and Lyla watched over the civilians and though Oliver wanted Laurel to have John's back, she refused. She accompanied him to face Darhk, reminding him he was part of team of equals, not a lone wolf. Together they fought against Darhk.

Their fight ended up on the streets, where the citizens of Star City stood with the Green Arrow and Black Canary to save their city. The city uniting behind him, Laurel looking at him with trust and love in her eyes, gave Oliver the inspiration he needed to fight against Darhk's vast magic and win. Damien was left powerless and the battle became one of physical prowess. Two against one, Darhk held his own rather well considering they'd all had League training. Oliver could tell Laurel was holding back and he trusted she had a reason why. When Oliver managed to pick up his bow and a spare arrow, Darhk caught Laurel and used her as a shield. They entered a standoff, a realm of just the three of them, though the fighting continued around them.

"Might as well put that toy down. We both know you don't have it in you. Not after you spared the man who murdered your mother."

"With him, I had a choice. With you, I don't," Oliver replied and aimed for Darhk's eye – the only kill shot available with Laurel in the way. This would be a justified killing, if not true justice, but at least he wouldn't be killing out of revenge.

"Don't," she cried to him. "Be the hero I know you are. Keep your promise."

She ordered, and he couldn't refuse her. He was done disappointing her by making the wrong choice when he knew what she wanted. He lowered his bow.

"Heroes," Darhk scoffed. He moved to drain the life out of Laurel.

He didn't touch her for more than a few seconds before he doubled over. Damien fell to his knees, clutching at his heart. Oliver moved swiftly to Laurel's side and together they stood over Darhk. Their villain looked at the hand that betrayed him, now wrinkling with age. His face began to ashen, liver spots appearing, his hair falling off in tufts.

"This can't be," Darhk rasped with the voice of an old man; "Only a child of Ra's, the true Ra's, could have the power to negate my gift."

"I am a daughter of Ra's, born of the Pit. I am Dinah al Ghul," Laurel declared proudly to the disbelieving Darhk.

Damien Darhk gasped one last time as his face sunk in on itself. Then he burst into dust, leaving behind a black suit that slowly crumpled to the ground.

With Darhk dead, his Ghosts stopped fighting, and the missiles he'd launched were sent to space. The city erupted into cheers. Within the celebration, Oliver pulled Laurel to him on the street and he kissed her for all the world to see.

* * *

 **A/N:** The flashbacks show us how Oliver became the crime-fighter we first met, I always felt the main show was supposed to show us the journey of how he becomes the Green Arrow; a hero, not just a vigilante. This season of the show started off with that in mind, but from what I read, it ended on a much more depressing note. With Laurel by his side, at least in my universe, that didn't happen. And for that end bit with how Damien died, Laurel had an idea that that would happen thanks to her mom's friend.

This story will be continued in an AU of season 5. If people have any requests for scenes they'd like to see or things I should work on, let me know. I'm only about half way done with the first draft (I go through like 5 drafts before I post and I'm willing to make changes afterwards as you can see). Please review! And thanks for reading!


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